By Kat Boushee
I’m really nosy. When I was young and precocious I was called “curious,” but let’s be honest, I’m really just nosy. For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to know everything about everyone. I’ve always loved mysteries, and believe that the only thing better than having a mystery is actually solving one.
I’ll take a mystery any way I can get it. For television mysteries I prefer Law & Order (the original and SVU, don’t try to pawn me off on Law & Order: LA), Castle, and Veronica Mars. I’m uncannily good at solving mystery shows and some friends have banned me from talking during them, because I solve them too quickly. I’m a reading-loving English major and I’ll read a good mystery any day. The best mysteries, however, are real-life mysteries.
I’ve worked at two different law firms in the past, and I’ve considered going to law school because in my mind cases are like little puzzles. I was even once asked to not dig quite so deep when doing my case files for an attorney because I cost him a personal injury case when I found evidence that the client was lying.
I also like to write, and one day this past January I read an article about a woman who’d read 462 books in one year because she was a book reviewer. I felt like the heavens had opened up and harps were playing because this was a dream come true for me. Getting paid to read and write seemed like the biggest scam ever, I mean who really gets paid for doing what they love any more?
I decided to see if I could get in on this, and I emailed The Recorder to see if they might have any need for a book reviewer. They emailed back the next day and suggested that I attend the first meeting of the semester. I did, and quickly started writing for The Recorder. However, I wasn’t writing book reviews, I was primarily writing news.
Being a reporter is one of the only jobs that I know about where you are allowed to be nosy. In fact, you are supposed to be, it’s expected of you! I’ve always been excited about politics and current events, and digging into the background of a story was just second nature to me. When I was lucky enough to be offered the Assistant News Editor position by Michael Walsh and Nick Proch, I jumped at the chance.
My main responsibility at The Recorder is to come up with news story ideas and to help write as many news stories as possible. I’ve also written album reviews and opinion pieces, and I try to help out wherever I can. I’ve learned so much in the four months that I’ve been working here and I look forward to all that I’m going to learn in the future.
I definitely think that journalism is a career possibility when I graduate. I love writing for The Recorder, and it is nice to indulge my shameless nosiness for a good cause. I couldn’t be happier with where I’ve ended up, and with the talented and helpful staff at The Recorder.
Oh, and to all of you out there who, like me, love writing and are, perhaps, looking for a place to get involved: come to The Recorder office. We can definitely find some work for you and maybe you too will fall in love with the amalgam of joy, stress, and pride that comes with seeing the words you write printed in a newspaper.